CVE-2021-27654
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedForgotten password reset functionality for local accounts can be used to bypass local authentication checks.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThe forgotten password reset functionality for local accounts contains a logic flaw that allows attackers to bypass local authentication checks, potentially granting unauthorized access to user accounts without knowing the original password.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data>= 8.2.1, <= 8.6.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Pega Infinity versionAccess the Pega Administration console (Designer Studio) and navigate to About > Pega Platform, or check the prengineproperties file for the prpc.version property. Alternatively, query the PegaRULES database: SELECT pv FROM (SELECT pr_build_version AS pv FROM pr_engine_version) WHERE pv BETWEEN '8.2.1' AND '8.6.1';Affected if The installed version falls within the range 8.2.1 to 8.6.1 inclusive
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Determine if local authentication is enabledIn Pega Designer Studio, go to Org & Security > Authentication > Authentication Configuration. Check if 'Username and Password' or local authentication is configured, versus external providers like LDAP or SAML.Affected if Local username/password authentication is enabled as an authentication service
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Confirm password reset functionality is activeIn Pega Designer Studio, navigate to Org & Security > Authentication > Password Reset Settings or verify the pzForgotPassword activity is deployed and accessible on the unauthenticated login screen.Affected if The forgotten password reset link/option is available on the login portal for local accounts
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Inspect password reset workflow configurationIn Pega Designer Studio, open the Password Reset (Forgot Password) flow in App Explorer or the Workflow menu. Review the flow for conditional branches that verify identity, especially around the authentication step prior to token generation.Affected if The password reset flow lacks proper authentication verification at any step before allowing password change
You are affected if running Pega Infinity version 8.2.1 through 8.6.1 with local authentication and the forgotten password reset feature enabled.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataReview and harden the password reset workflow to ensure proper authentication verification occurs at each step; implement multi-factor verification or out-of-band confirmation for password reset requests.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-27654 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-27654 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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